Gen Takekura
Gen Takekura (武蔵　厳 / ムサシ) often known as Musashi is the Kicker of the Deimon Devil Bats and was one of the original three founding members of the team. He quit the team after his father collapsed and decided to take care of his father's construction company instead, but was later encourage by his Co-workers to go back to the team and make his comeback during the Seibu Game. Musashi is also known as The 60-yard Magnum (60ヤードマグナム) although he can't actually do 60 yards and it was lie made by Hiruma in order to intimidate rival teams but he eventually can during the final quarter of the Christmas Bowl allowing the Devil Bat to win the Christmas Bowl Appearance Musashi is often mistaken for an older person since initially he has a bit of stubble and has a buzz-cut. When he finally joins the team, he grows out his hair and shaves. He is quite muscular due to his work in construction. While working in construction, he was often seen wearing a plain bandana on his head. Personality Musashi is one of the Level head members of Devil Bats. Musashi is normally displayed serious demeanor History Musashi is one of the three founding members of the Deimon Devil Bats along with Kurita and Hiruma. He first met Kurita on a job from his father to fix a hole in the fence of the American base Hiruma snuck into. After listening to Kurita's pleas, he still patches the hole but kicks another one, claiming its not his problem what happens after he finishes patching. Afterwards, he finds out they go to the same middle school and the three form the Maou Devil Bats. He leaves the team during the spring season of his freshman year, due to the fact that his father had become seriously ill. As a result, he was forced to drop out of school and take over as the construction foreman of Deimon High. Though he desperately wanted to get back into playing, he refused to rejoin the Devil Bats. However, after meeting with Sena and Monta and seeing how determined they are to get him back on the team, he agrees, but only if they become a strong team. In the manga, he makes his comeback during the game against Seibu, when his father hit him for abandoning his team. In the anime, he does not rejoin the team until the game with the Bando Spiders. He has a one-sided rivalry with the kicker of the Spiders, Kotaro Sasaki, who according to Hiruma, has NEVER missed. History Musashi has an incredibly strong right leg which helps the Devil Bats on kickoffs, often pinning their opponents deep or forcing them to down the ball deep in their own territory, or in their end zone for a touchback. The title of the 60-yard Magnum was actually a lie fabricated by Hiruma, in order to make Musashi seem invincible and scare their opponent, Synopsis Zokugaku Arc Nasa Alien Arc Death March Arc Autumn Tournament Arc Kanto Tournament Arc Musashi keeps telling people that it is a lie. However, the kicker of the Bando Spiders STILL wants to prove that he's better than the Deimon player. During the game against the Nagas, he is instrumental in the Devil Bats' onside kick at the start of the second half, and even pounds some sense into Hiruma with his fist, (though it was all an act). He also has been the only player on Deimon to score during the climactic game against Ojo, making two field goals that kept Deimon within range of the White Knights with a 13-6 score at halftime. After Hiruma went down with an injury at the hands of Gaou, Musashi was one of the few characters to be considered as a replacement QB during the game with Hakushuu, but Sena volunteered instead. Following the Bando game, there is an omake strip in which Hiruma and Kurita take Musashi to a barber as 'punishment' for not coming back until that game - if he had kicked against the Wild Gunmen, Deimon may have won. They give him various comedic hairstyles (which lead to Hiruma in particular nearly killing himself laughing) before deciding on shaving the left and right sides of his head, giving him a mohawk hairstyle. The omake was shown in the anime's special episode, but Musashi's hairstyle still remains as it was during the Bando Spider game. It might have been a mistake on the animator's part, but the reason is still unknown. Chrismas Bowl Arc Youth World Cup Arc Relationship Deimon Devil Bat Yoichi Hiruma Musashi is Hiruma's best friend and has been since middle school. Musashi understands Hiruma more than Kurita and is often Hiruma's (sometimes unwilling) sidekick when it comes to making insidious plans. The two are extremely close. At the very beginning when Musashi refused to join the American Football team in middle school, Hiruma did not resort to using his Devil's Handbook, a fact which Musashi noticed. Upon questioning, Hiruma replied that he wanted a comrade, not a puppet. His persistence in getting Musashi on the team eventually won Musashi over and he accepted. When Musashi decided to quit the team, Hiruma offered to blackmail the principal into giving money to the Takekura Construction Company. Musashi refused and Hiruma, though reluctantly, backed down. They're friendship, however, remained close and they seemed to have no trouble talking when Musashi was rebuilding the Devil Bats clubhouse. During the Christmas Bowl when Musashi was to make the 60-yards kick to ensure Deimon's victory, Hiruma told Musashi that 'Kurita' had hit things after he left and screamed when there was nothing left to hit. Both Musashi and Mamori realized that Hiruma was actually talking about himself, showing how much Musashi's leaving had an impact on him. During college, Hiruma, Kurita, and Musashi decided to part ways to form their own football teams and play against each other like the Three Kingdoms. They have now become both best friends and heated rivals. Ryokan Kurita Musashi and Kurita are very good friends since middle school Taro Raimon Manabu Yukimitsu Daikichi Komusubi Kazuki Jumonji Koji Kuroki Shozo Togano Natsuhiko Taki Suzuna Taki Techiques/Stratigies * Extremely Powerful Kick - Musashi have an extremely powerful right leg which he trained from his carpenter job, he is seen powerful enough to kick a giant hole in a steel fence,and kicking a long distance field goal with relative ease, although his kick isn't really accurate. * Onside Kick - Musashi kicks the ball at an angle and a shorter distance than usual in order for his teammates to try to regain possession of the ball. * High-Altitude Kickoff - Due to his kicking ability, Musashi is able to launch the ball into the air to an unbelievable altitude. This causes the opposing team to fall back deep into their own territory. The longer the ball stays in the air, the more time the Devil Bats have to surround the enemy and pin them down near their own goal line. * 60-Yard Field Goal - In the final play of the Christmas Bowl, Musashi kicks a successful 60-yard field goal to win the game for the Devil Bats. Thus proving his name The Legendary 60-Yard Magnum, even when the ball barely got in. Trivia *The kanji in Musashi's last name, Takekura, can also be read as Musashi, thus his nickname. The name is derived from Miyamoto Musashi, a famous samurai, who was famous for his skills with two swords, which relates to the fact that Musashi must put up two kicks for every successful possession (extra point kick or field goal and the kick off). Gen's rivalry with the Bando Spiders kicker Kotaro Sasaki is also a play on Miyamoto's rivalry with the legendary swordsman Sasaki Kojiro. *Musashi has a habit of picking his ear whenever he's not serious (or as a comedy gag). *He also has a knack for making unsensitive statements (Claiming that the Devil Bats are a weak team when Monta and Sena ask him to rejoin, and also saying that the Ha-Ha brother's are weak compared to him who worked for a year as construction worker, claiming that he is the one more fitted to be quarterback) to cover his true, much more noble, motive (he can't rejoin the Devil Bats since his father's company is in danger and with his father's illness, he's the one who expected to work, and he doesn't want to see the first year get injured by Gao). *Musashi is a skilled carpenter as shown in the Deimon School Festival when he built a whole casino for the Ha-Ha Brother's Shozo Togano in a matter of minutes, and ended with the saying "Do you want me to stop now? How big do you want this thing?" References }} Quotes *''"To be able to stand firm and untoppled,... that requires a firm foundation. No Slacking off!" '' Navigation Category:Eyeshield 21 characters Category:Male Characters Category:Deimon Devil Bats Category:Kicker Category:Team Japan